PASIR GUDANG, Aug 13 — Several neighbours of the seven-year-old boy suspected to have been abused at Bandar Layangkasa, here claimed they have been hearing frequent episodes of crying and screams from him (not real name) over the past two weeks, believed to have been from beatings and scoldings.

One of them, Wan Noor Badri Wan Yahya, 38, said neighbours first noticed two women scolding the child on June 30, after the victim was believed to have run out of the house to play.

Wan Noor Badri, who lives opposite the victim’s house alleged that after that, more such incidents happened, adding that this had been going on since the victim's relative and her friend rented the place in April this year.

The child had limited interaction with other children. He mostly played within his home and was frequently left alone while the two women go to work in Singapore, Wan Noor Badri claimed.

"Initially, we considered it common for parents to scold their children, but as we increasingly heard him crying loudly almost every day we felt there was a need to intervene. Eventually, the neighbourhood association agreed to do something about it.

"I often hear the victim being scolded and hit by the woman who has a masculine appearance, whom I thought was the victim’s relative’s husband,” he said when met by reporters today.

Following that, Wan Noor Badri said the residents' association took action to meet with the duo.

Another neighbour, Firdaus Abu Hassan, 30, claimed that when they entered the house, both women denied abusing the victim. The women raised their voices and claimed their actions were meant to discipline the child.

"However, after being questioned and confronted by many neighbours who noticed numerous bruises, scratches, and what seemed like burn marks on the victim's body, one of the women immediately apologised.

"We contacted the police when we suspected he was being abused. We never thought something like this could happen in our neighbourhood. We are grateful that he has been rescued," he added.

Yesterday, Johor Police Chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said that a 27-year-old relative of the victim and her 30-year-old foreign friend were arrested on suspicion of abusing the child.

Several videos and images that showed members of the public entering a house to rescue a child believed to have been physically abused had gone viral. — Bernama